Robert Redford Corrected A Major Casting Mistake On Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
There are certain roles that just seemed to be crafted for certain actors. Sometimes that's intentional, like when Wes Anderson wrote the role of Royal Tenenbaum specifically for Gene Hackman (much to Hackman's initial chagrin). Other times, things just fall into place, and it becomes hard to see anyone else in the role. For example, it's tough to imagine anyone but Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, or Matt Damon as that guy in "We Bought a Zoo." Or, y'know, maybe Jason Bourne. Either one fits, really.
Among the pantheon of roles that Hollywood absolutely nailed are Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid in the 1969 classic titled, aptly enough, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." The film is loosely based on real-life outlaws and was directed by George Roy Hill and scripted by the legendary William Goldman. Hill would go on to direct Newman and Redford in the 1973 classic "The Sting" based largely on the wild success and incredible chemistry they shared on screen as Butch and Sundance. (Even though, crazily enough, Newman wasn't the original choice for his role in "The Sting.")
Looking back, it makes all the sense in the world that Newman would play Butch, and Redford would take on the role of Sundance. Newman always had a twinkle in his eye and played roles with a sense of mischief; Redford's characters tend to be cooler, quieter, and generally calmer. That's why it's so hard to fathom that, initially, the roles were intended to be reversed.
A simple switch leads to an instant classic
Believe it or not, Redford was supposed to play Butch and Newman was being eyed for Sundance. According to Redford, it's because he'd just recently done some comedy. And given that Redford was still an up-and-comer, he wasn't even someone the studio wanted to begin with. He was only 29 at the time and a bit of an unknown. But Newman, who was 42, went to bat for him. As Redford recalled to Collider:
"He was considered a star at the time and I wasn't. So George and I went to meet Paul in New York and we spent some time talking and Paul decided he could work with this guy. He even told the studio he would support me being in the film. So from that point on I had a great deal of affection for him, for what he did for me. He didn't have to do that. So we did the film together and it fell easily into place."
Still, Redford was initially pegged for the role of Butch and that didn't sit well with the future Academy Award-winning director. According to Redford, it was Sundance who really resonated with him — to the point where he named his world-famous film festival after the character. As he told Collider in that same interview:
"What interested me was the Sundance Kid because I could relate to that based on my own experience and particularly my own childhood and feeling like an outlaw most of my life. So I told George and he knew Paul really well and knew he was much more like Butch Cassidy, so George turned it all around. He went to Paul and they argued a bit until Paul finally realized that George was right."
At the end of the day, the people behind the film wound up making the right call. Newman and Redford are obviously talented enough stars to have made it work regardless, but who knows? Maybe it would have ended up being as disastrous as listening to Butch when he tells you to go someplace like Bolivia.